Casket and method of hermetically sealing the same



R. F. PADEN CASKET AND METHOD OF HERMETICALLY SEALING THE SAME Qct, 1924.

Filed April 24, 192,2

//V VE N TOR aiwgfm Patented Oct. 7, 1924.

ROBERT F. PADEN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR 'IO ST. LOUIS COFFIN COM- PANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION 035 MISSOURI.

CASKET AND METHOD OF HEBIVIETICALLY SEALING THE SAME.

Application filed April 24, 1922.

T all whom it may concern: 3

Be it known that I, ROBERT F. PADEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, 5 have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Caskets and Methods of Hermetically Sealing the'Same, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is intended to facilitate the work of an undertaker in sealing an allmetal casket containing 'a human body for interment. It is especially adapted for an all-steel construction, and is efficient'in ,-h ermetically sealing the same. It provides a seal that is half applied when the casket leaves the manufactory, and is easily completed by means of this invention by the undertaker, or even any ordinary person.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which like num bers of reference denote like parts whereever they occur,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal perspective view of an all-steel casket;

Figure 2 is a broken-away sectional view, taken on the line 22 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view, on an enlarged scale, of part of the structure illustrated in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of a fragment of part of the sealing material; and

Figure 5 illustrates the mode of applying the other part of the sealingmaterial to the material illustrated in Figure The practice of inserting strips of rubber or felt or asbestus between meeting parts in caskets is old, and possesses the disadvantage that the strips are loose and need to be arranged neatly before sealing and are more 40 or less awkward to handle. These strips heretofore have always been inserted loose between the meeting parts in caskets to be sealed, and such seal has never been impervious to water or permanent to the de- 45 sired degree.

The seal produced by the present invention is impervious to water, hermetic, and indestructible. Time does not cause the same to deteriorate.

The preferred material 1 (especially shown in Figure 4) is asbestus, and is shaped from sheets by crimping, so that the flat underneath side 2 lies upon and is secured by suitable cement 3 to bracket 4. 55 The said cement 3 is used in the factory to Serial No. 556,223.

cause the strip of sealing material 1 to ad here to bracket 4, which attachment is permanent. Thus, the material 1 is in. place within the casket when the casket is shipped from the factory.

The casket preferably consists of theallsteel body-part 5 and the all-steel lid 6, containing within it, and suitably carried there by, the glass '1' vVhen the casket is to be is a fluid adhesive, and can be purchasedon the market.

This adhesive material is shipped with the casket as part of its equipment, contained in a tube 13 (like an ordinary tooth paste tube), adapted to lay a flat strip 14 of cement in the groove 15 between the.

flanges 11 of material 1.

After the adhesive material 14 has been laid upon or within the strip of asbestus 1 in the manner shown in Figure 5, the lid 6 is placed in position, so that one of its underneath edges rests upon one of the upper edgesof the body 5 and compresses by its weight the adhesive 14 and asbestus 1 lying therebetween, with the result that the adhesive 14 is pressed into the spaces within and pores of asbestus 1. This pressure is enhanced by the tightening of the machine screws 8.

Having thus described this invention, I hereby reserve the benefit of all changes in form, arrangement, order, or use of parts, as it is evident that many minor changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a casket, a main body part having an upper edge flange, a cover fitting thereon, said cover having a lower edge flange which cooperates with the edge flange on the body part, a sealing strip of flexible somewhat porous material interposed between the edge flanges of the said body part and said cover,

said sealing strip having its ends folded over 1 withthe edges thereof in spaced relation to surface extending around the top edge 0.1.

form a channel to contain adhesive material, the bottom of the sealing strip being cemented to the edge flange on the main body part, and clamping screws carried by the body part to engage the edge flanges and coinpress the sealing strip therebetween and cause the adhesive material in the channel to spread and penetrate the pores of the sealing strip and that portion of said adhesive in the space between the edges to adhere to the material of the edge flange of the cover.

2. In a casket, a main body part, a cover adapted to fit on said body part, screws for applying pressure to draw the cover to the top part toward each other, a strip of flexible and somewhat porous sealing material formed with inturned flanges on its upper 42 said body member, the adjacent edges of the inturned flanges being spaced apart to form a channel to contain adhesive material, said strip being permanently secured to the top edge of said body member by adhesive material, the cover when applied to the main body part pressing the flanges inwardly and downwardly to force the adhesive in the channel to spread and to be forced into the pores of the overlapping portions of the material, the adhesive in the channel between the edges of the flanges adhering to the edge of the cover.

3. The method of manufacturing and sealing a casket, consisting in making the casket in two parts, one a main body part and the other a cover to fit on said body part, fastening by an adhesive to the main body part, a flexible somewhat porous gasket adapted for containing a liquid adhesive, putting the cover on said gasket, filling the gasket with a liquid adhesive, placing the cover again over said gasket, and clamping the cover to said body part so as to compress said gasket and spread the liquid adhesive and cause same to penetrate the gasket material and form a seal with the cover part.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

ROBERT F. PADEN, 

